How To Hit A Baseball Like Mickey Mantle
I love studying different hitters and what makes them successful. Today I’d like for you join me in taking a look at an old clip of Mickey Mantle. One of the better hitters who ever played the game, here are some quick careers stats from Mantle’s Hall-of-Fame eighteen-year career:
Batting Average – .298
On Base Percentage – .421
Home Runs – 536
Hits – 2,415
RBI’s – 1,509
It’s so vital when learning how to hit a baseball that you generate momentum from your lower body into each pitch. This clip of Mantle is a great example. Here is an easy way to get the point I’m going to make. If you’re reading this at a desktop or laptop computer, grab a pen or pencil nearby you. If you’re reading this on a PDA, wait to do this until you can get in front of a bigger screen.
Place your pencil or pen vertically in the center of Mantle while he is in the stance position. Leave it there through the entire swing. As he strides and lands with his front foot, watch how far his hips have traveled into the pitch. His entire core of his body will be quite a bit in front of your pencil by the time he begins to rotate his hips. This my friends is the first step in creating some momentum. Now, not every hitter moves this much, but all great hitters generate momentum.
Please understand that this much movement is tough to master mainly because when young hitters are learning how to hit a baseball they shift too much weight onto their front foot. Here is what to look for when you are working on your hitting mechanics and wanting to generate some Mantle-like juice into the ball.
1. As you stride, make sure that when you land, you still have more than 50% of your weight on your back leg. You’ll notice that Mantle’s stride is pretty long, yours doesn’t have to match, it just has to be balanced like his. Landing with plenty of weight still on your back leg will ensure that you will be able to rotate your hips with some good power.
2. The instant you land with your front foot, you must, I repeat MUST, stop the movement forward with your hips and begin to rotate. The energy comes from your back side beginning to turn. Without getting into too much depth in this article, you want your front hip to open with your trigger (the rotating of your back leg and hip). Take a look at this in the clip.
3. Notice that when Mantle begins to rotate, his front knee begins to straighten and support the energy that has been brought into the pitch from the back side. This is quite important. Many inexperienced hitters when learning how to hit a baseball tend to lunge forward and bend the front knee. This blocks your hips from rotating fully and generally goofs your swing up pretty good.
If you can study and work on these three points (in combination with watching how Mantle illustrates them) you’ll soon learn how to hit a baseball with some authority and pop. Just remember that the success won’t happen over night!
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